EMG456

Well, just watched the first two of these and have to say like a few others, preferred the drum one.

I think essentially the difference between the two is the influence of the presenter.

In Stuart Copeland, you have someone who has lived and breathed music and drums from a very early age and has worked at the highest levels both in terms of sales/ popularity and all round musical credibility.

In Tina Weymouth, you have someone who was handed a bass at the age of 24 and told to learn it. I'm not belittling her talent here- she has sustained a music biz career for many years so she's obviously doing something right- but more pointing out that her musical experiences seem to me to be much more limited than the likes of Copeland and I think the choices of who/ what to feature reflected that.

A programme about bass that misses out Squire, Entwhistle, JPJ? No Stanley Clarke, Jaco, Mick Karnes, Pino? No Larry Graham/ Louis Johnson? No Tony Levin/ Lee sklar? But wastes a few minutes on Dizee Rascal...mmm?

On the plus side, she was very personable and had a nice easy way in front of the camera - just needed a more widely informed editorial direction.

Anyone know who's doing the guitar one? Hopefully someone like Dave Grohl.

ACG will actually do set necks or bolt on - your choice. The set neck being a separate neck permanently glued in to a tight pocket. Status now call a set neck a through neck, even though it only goes as far as the bridge pickup route.

I believe there is a difference tonally and also appearance wise but I have to say that bolt on joints have come a long way since the basic Fender type.

I like both but chose bolt on for my recent ACG build because the sort of sound I was looking for it to provide has in the past most regularly been produced by bolt on basses as far as I can tell.

I would suggest you buy what you want, after all, it'll just sound like you playing anyway! 😀

(runs for cover)

5 hours ago, Norris said:

For the first time I can ever remember, when I last re-stringed my bass all 4 tuners ended up perpendicular to the headstock when tuned up*. So now I simply carry a set square around and tune by setting the angle.

*This bit is actually true

That's a great idea and would give you a valid reason to use one of those old Schaller bridges with the fine tuners fitted!

Oh, and to answer the original question, high to low for me and then again to correct any errors.

@Al Krow I have an Ibanez Studio 8 which I bought new in 1980. Here's the thing- it has never really found a musical home with me. I have noodled on it in the house and I once in a blue moon take it to a gig and let it rip but the sound is so different to a standard bass that I find it's all but impossible to slip it into the usual situations. By comparison with almost any other bass it sounds loud and brash if you're using it to play the standard basslines. 

So I think you would be looking at using it in certain situations, with parts written specifically to suit an 8 string. For me it would be too much to play it all night. It's such a big sound that much like what happens when I play Chapman Stick on some songs, the rest of the band would likely have to adjust what they play to take account of the new sonic landscape.

I play finger style, so it's always both strings at once for me and I can't imagine how you could cleanly and solidly select just the lower string whilst still playing fluently but no doubt someone with a better facility than myself might be able to do it!

I have only ever recorded once with it and the song never made it past the demo stage, so I'm afraid I have no evidence for the court! This thread has however minded me to dig it out and take it to a rehearsal. The folky band I'm playing with just now would probably be a good setting for it and in any event I will enjoy the looks on their faces as I once again bring something odd to the party!

In terms of recorded 8 strings, Chris Squire played one occasionally and I remember Greg Lake had a beautiful Alembic 8 although whether he recorded with it, I have no idea.

I'm assuming I'm correct (LOL which is what I always do!) in that clip B is the actual 8 string bass. I found it immediately obvious but then again, I've been a 8 string owner since 1980 so I'm very familiar with the sound.

I heard a lot more dirt and general fuzziness in clip A which presumably is the pedal trying to disguise its limitations. To be honest, I think you could probably do a better emulation yourself using most multi-fx units these days - the Roland V-bass does quite a passable 8-string. For live performance though, I would just use the real thing if you have one. You'll get the proper sound and the punters will get the visual clues. Make sure you have a front of house soundman who will not mangle it out of all recognition trying to make it sound like a Fender Precision!

Thanks for that- I'm already very much loving it!

It’s another ACG special birthday bass.

The first of a new model- the Krell Kompakt.

Black Limba body with ART top. Wenge and maple neck with ebony board. Multi coil pickups with Dual filter preamp.

Thanks to Alan Cringean (ACG) who not only builds great basses but also takes great pictures of them!!

A full build diary is in this thread if you're interested in what the process is for having a bass built from scratch.

Thanks for listening all. I’m going to pop up a NBD thread over in bass guitars so some more BC’ers can see another example of Alan’s skill.

So here we go...

ACG Krell Kompakt Fretless 6 String, Uber Spec, multicoil pickups, DFM preamp, 32" scale.

These are Alan's pics - way better than I could do and it sounds and feels as good as they look!

I'll try and get some sound clips together over the next few days.

It's been worth the wait! 😀

In life, as in music, timing is all.

I just picked it up, it's beautiful and now I have to go out and be sociable for the evening! Arghhhhh!

Will post the pics up later on... much later on. 😬

Used RS66s in the 70s and 80s but the quality seemed to change in the 90s and they became very rough to the extent that I was having problems with blisters etc. Switched to Elites then but have tried RS66s again recently and they seem to be good again.

Status sell their own branded strings and these are good also- excellent prices especially for double ball end, but not very long lasting.

The bass is now in final assembly!! It will be ready for me on Christmas Eve!! I'm away then and not back till Boxing Day!!🙄

All going to plan then I'll be making the hour drive down to Moffatt on the 28th to pick this beauty up from ACG HQ.

Better polish up my fretless chops!

When I have an update, you’ll have an update! 😀

Seriously though, the bass is somewhere in the finishing/ final assembly conundrum, presumably along with several others whose progress pics I’ve noticed in parallel with my build.

I'm guessing Mr C will likely be flat out to get these done asap but we can only wait and see. I am certain it is close now! 

Absolutely howling at these! Some much needed light relief - thanks!

Yes, I notice that every time I see a clip of Tony Levin on Stick, he seems to be mainly playing the "bass" side *or* the melody side, almost never both at once?

One of the reasons I had for learning Stick was so that I could make a complete sound on my own, in the way a pianist can. so to this end, I've been concentrating on bass note and partial chord on the left hand with melody or other partial chord on the right hand. It's a bit of a handful especially when singing as well but it's getting to where I wanted it to be. As soon as a band hears the lovely Stick tones, they want you to play it in the band and it's then that the "less is more" discipline has to be brought into play.

Have you checked out Kevin Keith? He does a great job of the funky bass line and melodic chord thing but again in a very intimate environment.

Keep us posted on your progress - at 6 weeks I was lucky to string 3 or 4 predictable notes together!

2 hours ago, ForestPoetry said:

It's one of those things where I ask myself "could you actually play that" - it's a big wide board, you need serious hand/finger independance and I don't have the biggest hands for a bassist - but I'm nothing if not stubborn when it comes to getting on with learning something new like that. 

Stubborn will do! As lfalex-v11 says, the strings are quite low tension and the precision of the build and fretting on any stick I've tried means that a very low action is possible. You are lightly tapping on the strings and it doesn't feel anything like tapping on a bass that's set up for normal playing.

I don't think reach is an issue either, both of my Sticks are just about the same width as a 6 string bass at the 24th fret and one has ten, the other 12 strings so string to string spacing is a bit tighter. Of course the Stick neck is parallel.

The other thing is, I wonder if I had been able to go into a shop and try one, would I have then bought one? I fear maybe not, because I was so inept on it I may have just said "mmm… not for me" It's not the first time that it's been mentioned that the Chapman Stick absolutely seems like a great idea right up to the moment you strap one on...

I'm in Glasgow so if you're ever around these parts, you're welcome to try mine.

20 hours ago, spectoremg said:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ROLAND-V-BASS-SYSTEM-MODELING-VIRTUAL-EFFECTS-PROCESSOR-GKC5-CABLE-VB-99/264065431069?hash=item3d7b86b61d:g:ftIAAOSwLr1cAEbc:rk:30:pf:0

 

I seem to remember these being expensive. Any love?

Yes- paired with a GK3 equipped bass works very well for a massive variety of sounds. Also quite a nice multi FX even when used with standard basses.

This looks almost new - amazing and a far cry from my own battered and worn but much loved L2.

I have enough Steinbergers in my possession but if anyone is vaguely interested in this bass, my advice would be that the minimum number of Steinbergers a bass player should have is definitely one!

Someone will be getting a rare treat!

GLWTS

7 hours ago, Lfalex v1.1 said:

The Bass strings are what you're used to in terms of your left hand, even though they're  upside down..  it's the tuning in 5ths that's odd!

Even odder is that in an emergency, you can just play all the patterns you usually play on the bass but string to string jumps take you to the right note but in the “wrong” octave.

Haha - how did you come across this or is it already notorious and I just didn't know?

Genius!

Bobby Watson on Michael Jackson's Rock With You.

Welcome to the crazy world of the Chapman Stick!

The only advice I feel qualified to give would be to "stick" with it. (Ouch!) I don't know how you're feeling about it but I certainly thought that having about 33 steady years of bass experience before I started with the Stick would give me a head start but I actually found that my skills were not so transferable after all. I found the reverse 5ths tuning on the bass side very difficult for playing bass lines and found even interaction between the hands not easy, let alone independence!

Fortunately, I'm stubborn and persistent so I'm finally getting somewhere but in reality it's taken me a lot longer than I thought it would and I'm still no virtuoso.

Play as often as you can and pay attention to your setup - If you're playing out make sure you have the truss rod tool with you - the neck can move from one environment to another and if the action is out of whack, it can really throw you especially at the start.

If you want to play "normal" bass lines on it, some players change the bass side to a 4ths tuning - easy to play fluid basslines like you are used to but against that you lose the compact open chord voicings that 5ths gives you.

You're right to think that it's easy to take over a whole band's sound with the stick - played all at once it can be an enormous, dense sound leaving little space for anyone else but if your bandmates like it, they'll likely start to make adjustments to accommodate you. For example, the guitarists I play with will often switch to mandolin or Dobro if I'm going to be playing stick - there's lots of room to experiment and no real rules or traditions with the Stick - it's very much whatever you choose to make it.

Also be prepared to make lots of new friends if you play it out. It may be different if you mingle in the prog-rock circles but for most types of music, yours will be the first Stick an audience has ever seen and the questions come thick and fast! 🙂 

One last thought just now - Sticks sound much better in Stereo than mono, even if your just going through a mono setup like a bass amp - something to do with the impedance loading on the pickups I believe so if you don't have multiple inputs on your amp setup, invest in a little mixer - I use a Boss LS-2- and it will sound much brighter and livelier.

Overall, my Stick journey has been at times frustrating but hugely enjoyable. It hasn't diminished my love for the bass but it has enhanced my musical knowledge no end and frankly I can't imagine being without one now.

Best of luck and if there's anything you want to know, just ask!

Yep, that escalated quickly! Hindsight and all that - moving on the Buy It Now would have been the right thing. Good for the seller assuming of course that the sale goes through...

I'm pretty certain that you could pick one up for a lot less but of course that one was in particularly nice condition.

Onwards and upwards.

Here's the thing - this Kubicki is a top notch boutique bass from the early 90s albeit assembled by the Fender custom shop. New, they were priced alongside Steinberger, Alembic, Sadowsky, Modulus etc. and thoroughly deserved their place there. Lots of people nowadays routinely pay £2k-ish for a 1970s Fender. As long as you're not one of the "all you need is a precision with flatwounds" crew, this Kubicki will eat any of those dodgy Fenders for breakfast so £1500 seems more than fair to me. The interesting thing is that at the end of the day, it's all down to individual taste and what the market will stand.

After this discussion, I now want an Ex-Factor. Fortunately for me I have an imminent bass arrival in the next few weeks so I will not be joining in the last minute bidding frenzy if there is to be one. And I can console myself with the fact that I already have a Key Factor 5 which goes both higher and lower than an Ex-Factor! Still want one though... GAS!

It's an unusual tuning arrangement so best to just watch somebody...